The Genesis Effect
by Cainneigh
Summary: The escapades of Destiny and her people. So many things happen in this; it isn't really a story, but a series based loosely off the episodes of SG:U. Rush/Eli, REli in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

"So Greer and Marcus have gone out to see if they can find any food that doesn't taste like my Aunt Rosa's zucchini pasta."

"Eli, stop talking to that thing." Rush looked up from his thinking position on the rock ledge across the cave.

Eli scowled. "No one ever understands that documenting this will be important. I thought you guys learned that when we found the Kino from our first visit to this planet." Eli was always talking to the Kinos. It was nice, too, like having a best friend who was always there to listen.

Rush lifted his chin off of his hand and turned towards Eli. "Why don't you get some sleep? I'll keep watch until Greer and Marcus return."

Eli opened his mouth to protest, but ended up yawning instead, which made him choose not to say anything. He turned the Kino off and placed it on the ground next to his sleeping bag, which he then started to unroll. Thunder rolled outside the cave and Eli jumped a bit. "It's getting colder", he commented. Rush gave no response. Eli finished making his bed on top of the rock and curled up into it. He tried to close his eyes and fall asleep, but the hard rain, thunder, and thought of being viciously murdered by those nocturnal creatures made it difficult. After a few minutes, Eli rolled over to his other side, facing the inside of the cave. He watched wearily as Rush paced around the wet cave, returned to sitting, then got up and start pacing again. Eli smiled and his eyes closed quickly.

Eli was woken to the sound of Greer and Marcus returning. In their arms they carried small, purple, round fruits, but their faces weren't happy. "Here", Marcus commented, dropping his armload on to the rock ledge. "They taste awful but they're not poisonous and they're something." Greer piled his fruits on top of Marcus'. There was plenty of food for everyone and it would last them a few days, but it seemed that everybody had lost their appetite.

Greer slung his gun around his should so that he was cradling it. "And now we wait." And they did. They waited several hours before Greer jumped up, nervously whispering, "What was that? Did you hear that?" He was waving his gun around wildly.

"If you'd be quiet, the rest of us might hear it", Rush growled. The four men strained their ears to hear all of the sounds in their new surroundings. Light rain fell onto leaves and ferns, making soothing sounds. Something like crickets sounded all around the cave, and there was even a bird, or something like it, bellowing its chords in the distance. Then there was a rustling in the brush, and a soft panting noise coming from within them. Rush and Eli snatched up the rifles that had been leaning against the cave wall, glad to rest. Holding their breath, the four men watched the entrance to the cave.

Scott fell out from the undergrowth and vines of the forest. He landed on all fours and was gasping and coughing. Marcus freaked out from his sudden appearance and fired his gun. Three rounds spat out into the darkness beyond. Luckily for Scott, Marcus had been too nervous to aim, and the bullets missed him widely.

"Matt!" Greer rushed forward to help his friend up. "We thought you were dead!" The last anybody had seen of Scott, he had been wounded, alone, in these woods during the solar flare, or so they had seen on one of the previous Kinos.

Greer was pulling Scott off the ground and having Scott lean on his shoulder for support. Scott muttered, "Yeah, I thought so, too. I've been out running those devils every night. I thought the solar flare was interrupting the Stargate." Greer relayed their past few days' events to Scott, telling him that in the past, their team had been sent out to look for Scott again and retrieve the Kinos after the solar flare. They had found the Kino and sent it back to Destiny, but apparently had gone back to the past, because a few minutes later, the solar flare came again, effectively trapping all of them here. They were attacked by the creatures again before they could make any progress in rescuing Scott. Half of the original team had died from the attack, and two more left dead by the virus in the water. Marcus, Greer, Rush and Eli had sought refuge in this cave, and were on the defense when Future-Scott had come bursting through the forest.

"Ah", said Scott, his back to the cave entrance, his hands warming on the meager fire that Rush had built a few hours before. Greer was examining a deep cut in his arm when suddenly two of the creatures sprang from the jungle and landed on Scott's back. Scott yelled out in pain as the two monsters dug into his flesh and bit him all over. Rush and Eli jumped up from their sitting positions and scanned the cave entrance for more ambushes, while Marcus fired randomly into the night. Greer was sitting in shock, still right in front of Scott, and could see the horrified expressions cross Scott's face. Breaking from his trance, he violently swatted at the creatures on his friend's back, but they had already done their job, pouncing off the dead marine's body and running out of the cave.

The creatures had not returned, and all men relaxed after another hour. Greer had carried Scott's body out of the cave and laid it gently on the mossy floor of the jungle. Rush had added more wood to the fire, and everyone had huddled around it sadly. After much silence, Rush spoke. "If we are to survive this, we need to deal with tactics. And not just against these creatures, but food, water, shelter, and facing the possibility that we may never be rescued."

Marcus turned to face Rush. "What do you mean? The solar flare won't last forever."

"Yes, but it may last longer than the amount of time until Destiny drops back into FTL."

Marcus' eyes grew bigger. "We may be stuck here forever? We'll die!"

"Everyone dies."

"Or we can start a civilization! We can colonize this planet, dominate it." Marcus was panicking.

"With what? There aren't any females alive. And truthfully, I'd rather die than procreate with any of the women aboard the Destiny." Eli snickered at Rush's comment.

"What about the food?" Eli asked. "'Cause I don't think I can live much longer if I'm eating stuff that tastes like that." He pointed to the purple fruits on the rocks.

Rush rolled his eyes. "We have meat."

Eli's eyes widened at the thought of such a delicacy. He hadn't had meat since he left the Icarus Base. The rations on board the ship were made of calorie bars, water, and oatmealish stuff. "Meat? Where?"

"Well you could either eat one of the dead creatures, of course that'll probably kill you, or Lt. Scott over there."

Eli gagged. "Eew! I'm seriously not that hungry. I am bored, though."

Greer clenched his fists when he heard Rush suggest that Scott's body be eaten. "How dare you even suggest something like that!" he yelled, furious. He lunged towards Rush, but was still sitting down, and was prevented from getting anywhere near the older man.

Rush seemed not to notice. Instead, he turned to Eli. "You're bored? You are the one with the imagination that everything is going to be okay. You are the one who has a Kino to talk to. You are the one who doesn't have to do anything! So don't tell me you're bored when there's hundreds of things you could be doing to help get us out of here!" Rush didn't yell, he hardly ever yelled, but he said it so calmly and aggressively that Eli shrank away from him and retreated into the corner.

Greer and Marcus exchanged glances. Neither of them were going to sacrifice themselves to save Eli from Rush. They pretended to talk to each other, agreeing that they should probably go scout out a fresh water source. They hurried away from the cave, guns in hand.

Eli sat alone in his corner. He had no idea what time it was; Rush was the only one with a watch and it had been smashed and broken during one of the attacks. There was still no direct sunlight, but the rising sun had begun to make vivid colors in the sky. Rush did not turn when he said, "Eli, I'm sorry. I know you're doing all that you can. It just seems that all of our knowledge is no use; it's simply survival of the fittest."

Eli nodded, even though Rush couldn't see. Eli stood and walked over to where Rush was sitting. He sat next to him, and even dared to rest his hand on Rush's shoulder. Maybe in such a hopeless state, Rush wouldn't notice, maybe not even mind. Eli sighed. "Yeah, I know. It sucks. I don't think we can keep running and holding them off, though. We need to get back to the Destiny."

Rush nodded slowly. Eli felt backwards, him telling Rush what was going on and what he felt they needed to be doing, instead of the other way around. Rush looked up, an odd grin on his face. "If you're really bored, I'll give you some logarithms for you to do in your head." Smiles were an uncommon thing on Rush's worn face, and this was the first Eli had ever seen, but he thought he rather liked them. Eli nodded in agreement and Rush proceeded to say any kinds of math that just happened to pop into his head at the moment. Without paper, Eli made a few mistakes, but he was able to talk them through and have Rush point out his errors. This was fun, at least more fun than anything else, but soon Eli became bored again. Silence covered the two once more.

"We're going to die, aren't we?" Eli asked. Rush didn't reply, but reached a hand over and patted Eli's knee. It was oddly warm and comforting. Eli leaned ever so slightly closer to Rush's side.

Marcus and Greer had crept back into camp after listening for a minute to check that the coast was clear. "Hey, guys, Marcus and I found a creek about-" Greer stopped walking and talking when he saw that Rush and Eli were asleep on the rock ledge. The weird part, though, was that Eli was almost cuddling Rush's right side. Greer laughed, something he wouldn't have dared to do had Rush been conscious. He turned to Marcus. "Well, it seems like it's time for watch duty."


	2. Chapter 2

The next time Eli woke, sunbeams were dancing on the cave walls. Greer was climbing a tree and looking rather stupid, Marcus was boiling water in one of the metal pots that had been salvaged from Icarus Base, then the Gate site, where their large group had been attacked only a day or so ago, and Rush was nowhere to be seen. Eli stretched and almost fell off of the hard rock that he hadn't remembered falling asleep on. He strolled over to Marcus. "So you guys found fresh water?" he asked.

Marcus looked up from the small bubbles that had started to appear in the water. "'Morning sleepyhead", Marcus greeted him. "Yeah, Greer and I went traipsing through this jungle until we found a really cold stream. We got back to tell you, but you were already asleep." Remember the sight, Marcus snickered.

"What?" Eli wanted to know why Marcus was laughing at him sleeping. He didn't think he snored. Or drooled.

Marcus replied, "Well, it's just that, when we got back, you and Ru-" He froze as he saw a tall shadow drape across the cavern floor in front of him. It was distinctly Rush-shaped. Marcus spun around. "Oh, good morning, sir. I was just boiling water for breakfast", he said nervously, quickly adding a "Sir!"

Rush's face showed no emotion. Turning back to look at Greer, he asked, "What the hell is he doing?" Greer was still scaling the branches of the tree, occasionally swinging on them.

Marcus answered. "Well, he said he needed exercise, sir. Although, he does look a bit ridiculous, doesn't he sir?" Marcus laughed again.

"If you call me sir one more time, I'm going to throw you into the Stargate, after making sure it's still not working. Stop pretending you're in the military", Rush snapped, but it was not violent. Marcus lowered his head and nodded.

Rush pulled Eli over to the other side of the cave. "I went back to the Stargate", he whispered. "It's still not functioning, but I found this." He held up a metal box.

"Hey, aren't those the communication stones?" Eli asked.

Rush shushed him, looking back over his shoulder at the other two men. "Half of them, yes. I predict that the others are onboard the Destiny. I want you and me to use them, so we can talk to the people on the Destiny and see if they have figured out how much longer the solar flare will last."

Eli thought it over. It sounded alright. "Okay, but why don't you want Greer and Marcus to know about it?"

"Because, if something happens to us during our visit on the Destiny, say if the solar flare causes us to be permanently stuck in that location, I want to make sure that it's not you and me who are stuck here forever."

That didn't sound quite fair to Eli, but Rush was being kind enough to take him instead of Marcus or Greer. "Why me?"

"Because, Greer is too quick tempered and rebellious, Marcus is always nervous, and you are the asset. You are smart and can help me with guiding the Destiny. And you are the only one who trusts me. I need you."

Eli smiled. "Okay. You want to do it now?"

"The sooner the better. Marcus and Greer always go out in the evening for something. Let's wait until they're gone." Eli nodded, feeling slightly shameful, but much more hopeful.

Eli sat in anticipation until Marcus finally announced, "Hey, Greer's going to go look for more food, and I'm heading out to bring back some more water. Want to come?" Eli and Rush shook their heads. "Okay then. See you two later!" He winked at Eli and hopped off into the jungle, as happy as though nothing was wrong. Greer soon disappeared in the opposite direction.

As soon as they were gone, Rush retrieved the case of stones from where he had hidden it. Clicking open the top, Eli gazed upon the shiny blue stones. Rush carefully placed them in their positions. Eli held his breath and waited.

When Eli opened his eyes, he was temporarily blinded by the bright ceiling lights. Blinking a couple of times, he realized that he was standing next to TJ. "Dr. TJ! God am I glad to see you! Wait, where's Rush?"

TJ looked at him like he was stupid. "Eli, it's me." The voice that came from TJ was definitely hers, but Eli immediately recognized a certain Rush-like aura around her.

"Oh, sorry. Hey, if you're TJ, then who am I?" Eli ran over to a shiny wall panel. Staring into it, he saw that his reflection was that of Riley. "Ah." In the reflection, he saw Rush walk over and stand behind him. Riley was about the same height as himself, but TJ was much taller. Eli was used to speaking to Rush at his own eye level.

"Play along, and follow my lead. Do not make any attempt to make yourself recognized yet. I want to see what they're doing when they think I'm Dr. Johnson." Eli nodded his understanding.

After walking down the long corridors of the long-missed Destiny, Rush and Eli came to the cafeteria. Many of the crew members were sitting at the tables, eating the disgusting soup-like food. The chatter was nervous.

Park came running up to Rush. "TJ! Amanda just fainted. We took her to the sick bay. Becker really wants to know when he can start using the large water supply again." She rambled on about all of the problems they were facing on Destiny. Then she noticed Eli. "Oh, Riley. I thought you were supposed to be in the command center helping Dale." She leaned over to Rush and whispered, "TJ, how long is this going to last? I don't know if any of us will last more than a week."

Rush nodded and walked off towards the control center. Eli followed faithfully behind. When they got to the small round room, they saw Dale trying to decode the Ancient control panel. He raised his finger to push something, then lowered it with a struggling expression.

"How is it going?" Rush asked.

Dale jumped a little, not knowing that people were watching him. He fidgeted slightly before replying, "Well, honestly, I don't really know. I can't read very much Ancient, Eli and Dr. Rush were the only ones who were close to being fluent, and I'm still trying to figure out the controls, which might not even help us, since Dr. Rush himself couldn't figure out how to steer the ship, or anything, so I hope you're not expecting too much of me, because I really don't know-"

Dale would've continued to chatter nervously away had Rush not interrupted him. "Doctor, it's us, Rush and Eli."

Dale stared for a minute. "But how?"

"We found the communication stones back at the gate and we used them to temporarily return to the Destiny. We can help you here if you need it. What seems to be the problem?"

Dale stood shocked. "Oh, uh, well I don't really know. I can't tell what anything says. Right now the real problems are the virus in the water supply and trying to gather everyone dead or on the planet back on board. Like you guys. Sorry, but we really haven't gotten anywhere."

As soon as Dale's mouth had finished moving, there was a violent jolt that shook the leviathan ship. Eli fell into Rush, who had braced himself against the hard walls, and Dale reached out for the control center panels to steady himself. The quake lasted for only a few seconds, but when it was over, Dale was again staring shockingly back at Rush and Eli.

"What?" Eli asked. He looked over at Rush and was amazed to see that he was pressed onto Rush instead of TJ, who had been there only a moment before. "Rush! Hey!" Eli picked himself up off of Rush and ran over to one of the lustrous walls. He saw his own familiar face stare gleefully back at him. "Yes!" he shouted.

Rush paused. "The Stargate!" he muttered. Rush bolted back towards the Gate room, Eli quick on his heels. When they skidded to a halt in the room, Eli and Rush were awed to see the rippling blue surface of the Stargate in full operation.

"It's working!" Eli cried. Eli stood, almost crying, in front of the Stargate.

The passengers of the Destiny were soon crowding around the Stargate as well. After a minute, one of the people cried, "Hey, look! Someone's coming through!" And indeed, someone was coming through.

TJ's face was the first to emerge from the blue pool of the Stargate, immediately followed by Colonel Young. There were cries of surprise from the people of Destiny. The last time they had seen the Colonel was when the creatures had murdered him and they had watched on the Kino. It was also a surprise when a healthy Lieutenant Scott emerged behind him. Greer and Marcus held up the rear of the group, both wearing relieved smiles.

Everyone on the ship started talking at once. People crowded around the arriving companions and asking if they were okay. Scott was taken to the infirmary because he felt slightly sick, but the other five were fine. TJ politely pushed aside the onlookers and made her way to the sick bay. Marcus and Greer followed Colonel Young to the control center, dragging Rush and Eli along with them.

Young turned to Rush when they had reached their destination. "You and everyone who just came back from that planet are to get some rest for now, but I need you to keep working on unlocking Destiny's information panels. And don't think I'm going to let you anywhere near that chair. Eli, make sure he stays out of trouble." Young gave Rush a harsh glance and retraced his steps to the Stargate's room, telling everyone to clear out and have the rest of the day off.


	3. Chapter 3

"Please unroll your sleeve, Scott", TJ requested. Scott obediently lifted up his right sleeve, letting the doctor stick a needle in his vein, drawing blood. TJ tapped the needle. "Alright. Thank you, you should know the results in a few hours. I advise you stay here and rest for now." TJ walked into the next room to run her tests on the vial of blood.

Scott took her advice and walked around to find an unoccupied sleeping bag. There were sleeping bags spread out in rows, almost all of them filled with a sleeping or coughing person. Scott was amazed by the number of people who had gotten sick in the time he had been gone. It was then he noticed the three white cloths in one corner of the room. He could see the outline of a human underneath them. Sadness and fear gripped him for the people who had died and for his own health. Walking over, Scott leaned down and pulled the sheets over their heads. He didn't recognize the first victim; he was probably one of the random people who had been forced to evacuate Icarus base. He was shocked to find the second sheet concealing Wray. Camile Wray was one of his fellow officers, and had been perfectly healthy when he had left. She was a good acquaintance and he felt a pinch of remorse. He breathed out slowly and covered up the first two. Reaching for the third sheet, he pulled it down. Disbelief and horror struck him full force when he saw the face behind the white blanket. He didn't think this could be real. Tears poured down his face as he ran his fingers gently, affectionately, across Chloe's cheeks. Chloe couldn't be dead. A tear ran off his cheek and fell onto Chloe's. He wiped it off despairingly.

TJ heard sobs coming from the other room and rushed in. She saw Matthew Scott's body draped over the lifeless form of Chloe. His body was limp and trembling. She sighed; she had hoped she wouldn't have to be the one to tell Scott about his girlfriend. She walked quietly over to his and patted him on the back as comfortingly as she could. She grabbed him and gently pulled him up and away from Chloe. She forcefully led him to an empty sleeping bag and tucked him in. He curled up and continued to sob silently.

Rush heard a knock on his door. "Come in."

Eli poked his head in tentatively. Rush was sitting on his bed reading a book. "Um, I was just going through some of the data you recently pulled from Destiny. I haven't found anything worth mentioning, but I thought you might like to see the translated version." Eli didn't expect praise, and didn't wait for any. He walked over to Rush's homemade desk and laid the papers on top of it. He turned to leave when Rush spoke.

"Thank you, Eli. Why were you looking through that? The Colonel told you to rest."

Eli hung his head. He was tired, but he had really wanted to look back at Rush's new discoveries. "Yeah, I had to sneak past him to get to the control room, but I managed. You said you really needed to look through it, but I figured you needed more rest than I did, so I went ahead and read it." Eli tried to conceal his yawn from the older man, but was unsuccessful.

Rush frowned slightly. "It wasn't that big a deal, Eli. I was just going to do it in a few more hours. But since you've already done it, bring it over here." He gestured for Eli to bring him the papers. Eli took the stack of papers over to Rush and stood beside the bed. Rush surprised him by patting the bed beside him, implying that he wanted Eli to sit next to him. Eli carefully climbed up onto the bed and sat beside the doctor.

Rush leafed through the papers quickly as Eli fidgeted with his thumbs uncomfortably. Rush flipped back to the first page. "Let's take a look at this, shall we?" Eli nodded and they began to read. "Well, this planet seems breathable enough. If we ever find out how to steer the ship, we could stop here and take a look around."

"Yeah, and the next one has an orbit that is very close to the first, so it may be similar in dynamics." Rush and Eli went through the long list, debating which planets would be suitable to explore, should they ever find a way to control the direction of Destiny's course. This went on for an hour.

"We'd have to use the suits on this one", Rush went on, "so we could only send a few at a time, but it looks promising. What do you think, Eli?" Hearing no response from his assistant, Rush glanced over at Eli. Eli's eyes were closed and he had a serene look on his face. Rush smiled amusedly at the sleeping Eli. Rush quietly stood up, careful not to wake Eli. He strode to his desk and dumped the papers on top. Rush admired his young assistant from across the room, seeing for the first time exactly how young and innocent Eli was. He was really only a child. A child who had been whisked away from his dying mother and brought to the outer reaches of the universe.

Eli woke to silence. He rubbed his eyes and searched the room. It was familiar, but not his own. Retracing the last time he had been awake, Eli figured he must have fallen asleep in Rush's bed. Eli blushed. He hopped off the bed and opened the door to the hallway. He made his way to the control room, wondering how long he'd slept. He entered the circular room that held all of Destiny's reins and saw that Rush had beaten him to it.

Hearing Eli enter, Rush said, "Good morning, Eli. And how did you sleep?" Rush did not turn, but kept typing away at the console, pausing occasionally to read the glowing data.

Eli came up silently behind Rush. He huffed. "I slept fine." He peered over Rush's shoulder to read whatever it was that had been brought to the screen. Having read as much as he could, Eli reached to scroll down, his hand brushing lightly across Rush's in the process.

Having finally read all of the data, Eli retracted his arm. "So the power is okay, and so is the ventilation, but what about the water? Is it still contaminated?" The last Eli had heard, Jackson was dead, and there were about twenty more dying. Eli was thankful he was not among them, though he might join them at any moment.

"The water is still unsafe to use. Lieutenant Johansen is working on a cure with the venom right now, but more people are becoming sick."

"Right." Eli nodded. "Do you know who is sick?"

Rush glanced over at Eli. "Amanda, but you already know that. I heard Lieutenant Scott and Brody are sick, and Marcus isn't looking too hot himself. Oh, I heard Lieutenant Wray passed away."

Eli frowned. "Oh." He hadn't really known Camile that well, but she seemed nice at times. Rush fidgeted. "What's wrong?" Eli asked.

"Well, I heard that…" Rush paused, "that, uh, Miss Armstrong has passed away as well. I know how much you cared about her, so…" Rush let his voice fade out, which was fine since Eli wasn't even listening anymore. Eli stood in shock. Surely Chloe, his only friend, couldn't be dead.

Eli ran from the control room and dashed down the halls. He skidded to a stop on the sick bay, looking around frantically for Chloe. The closest thing he could find was Scott. He would know where she was. Eli ran over to Scott, who was presumably sleeping, wrapped up tight in a sleeping bag. When Eli got closer, he saw that Scott was trembling, and he could hear his muffled sobs. Eli crouched behind him and shook him gently. Scott rolled over. Eli saw that Scott's face was red and tear-stained. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot. "Scott, where's Chloe?"

Scott began to bawl again. "She – she's… Eli, no! No, no no no no no! CHLOE!" Eli pulled his hand away from Scott. "Eli, she's dead!" Scott howled.

Eli shook his head. No, Scott is lying, too. Chloe, the only friend he had ever known, was not dead. But Eli knew she was.

TJ stormed into the room. "Eli, what are you doing?" she snapped. She saw Scott and sighed. Then she saw tears welling up in Eli's eyes. "Oh god", she sighed. "Eli, I'm sorry, really I-". Eli ran from the room.

Eli had darted back to his room and flung himself on his sleeping bag, burying his face in the material. Eli lay there for what seemed to him to be hours, though he really didn't know. After an eternity of silence and solitude, Eli heard his door open. His face was still buried in the sleeping bag, so he did not see who entered, but he soon felt someone run their hands through his hair. It was very soothing, and Eli sighed happily. Still running his hands through Eli's soft, beautiful brown hair, Rush spoke. "Perhaps I shouldn't have told you."

Eli smiled to himself that it was Rush who was being so gentle and sweet to him. "No, I'm glad you did", Eli mumbled from the sleeping bag.

Rush shifted himself next to Eli. "I'm sorry about Chloe. I know how much you liked her." Rush had never liked Chloe all that much, but he had seen how happy Eli was when he was around her.

Eli moved so that he was propped up on his elbows, Rush still playing with his hair. Eli looked gratefully up at the older man and nodded sadly. "Yeah, she was the only friend I've ever really had." Eli leaned into Rush's side. "I really miss her", he muttered.

"I know, Eli. It's hard to lose someone you love."

Eli was lost in thought, warm and content in Rush's arms. He nodded. "It hurts."

"Yes, it does."

Eli looked up at Rush. "Who did you love that died?" Eli immediately regretted his words.

Rush sighed, but reacted as calmly as Eli had expected. After a long pause, "My wife."

Eli winced. "Oh." He returned his gaze to his hands. "I'm really sorry. I mean, Chloe wasn't my wife or anything", Eli made a disgusted face at the thought, "but yeah… I'm sorry."

Rush was gazing into another world, one that could only be seen by him. "It's alright, Eli. That was along time ago. It's better." He could not open himself to that level of vulnerability, even to Eli. But it was better, much better.

"I'm sorry, Eli." Eli reached for the doctor's hand and placed his on top.

Eli and Rush sat in an uncomfortable silence for a long time, Eli trying to imagine what losing a spouse would feel like, Rush remembering it. The silence was broken by the announcement that dinner was on. Rush climbed off the bed and shrank out from the room, Eli following minutes later.

Dinner was the consistent bowl of food that no one wanted to really eat, but ate anyway. Eli retired back to his rooms, falling onto his bed and fumbling around with KELI. KELI took to the air, Eli directing it through the air, not actually watching where it went. Eli was lost in thoughts about Rush and his wife. He felt a spark ignite in him when he began to realize that Rush had actually been married. Eli wondered who Rush had been before his wife's death. Was he the slightly egotistical, independent genius who Eli knew, or had he been softer then, not yet realizing the precarious and unmercifully pitiful thing that was life? Rush had once been happy, Eli thought. Eli pondered, KELI flying repetitively between the walls of Eli's room.

It was not long before Destiny connected with a new planet. Eli felt the jolt from their drop out of FTL and he hurried down the hallways towards the Gate room. When he stepped through the doorway, Eli saw the room bathed in a familiar blue, which rippled across the floor. Colonel Young, TJ, Becker, and Dale followed on Eli's heels. The excitement and concern of finding a new Stargate had disappeared; it was no longer new and mystifying. Greer and Marcus showed up at the same time, looking from each other to the Gate. Marcus called, "Well, who wants to go exploring?"

Rush, Eli, Colonel Young, Marcus, Greer, and Dale stepped out into the light of the new planet. The view was nothing spectacular; simply a bunch of brown rock. Dale led the expedition down paths of rock and dust, stopping suddenly at the top of a small rock hill. "What is it?" Eli called out. Dale did not move. His eyes were fixed on something over the hill, not yet visible to the other men.

Colonel Young climbed up behind Dale. "Oh God", he muttered.

This caused a mad dash to the peak, everybody wanting to know what could lie beyond this mound of rock. And they soon found out.

It was a space ship. Marcus and Rush made a race towards it, eager to examine. Eli took his time, eventually walking up behind Rush, who was running his hands across the ship's outer shielding. There were grooves and patters carved into the dull gray exterior, Eli soon noticed. "These markings, they are not Ancient", Rush commented enthusiastically.

Marcus was busy trying to pry open what seemed like the door to the ship. He tugged determinedly at the door, but it did not budge. He kicked the ship. After a few hours, the search team retired back to their own ship, relaying all the information they had gathered to the people in wait on the other end of the Stargate.


End file.
